Each year, we hold an auction of donated items to help support our chosen charity. Donations can come from dealers and attendees alike. Keep reading to find out how you can participate!

Submission deadline: Friday March 17th, 2023 at 11:59 PM ET

In-Person Auction: Sunday March 20th, 2023 at 10:00AM located in Harbour

Donations

We are encouraging donations of services as well as physical items! Are you an artist who can offer a special commission? A behind the scenes tour at your workplace / elsewhere? A once-in-a-lifetime food experience? It’s all more than welcome!

What We’ll Accept: We are generally willing to accept any item or service that will be of interest to our attendees in the auction. We especially encourage the donation of unique and creative items and services that are related to furry, or to our Tales from the Tavern theme!

We will not accept items that are heavily used, damaged, or dirty – this is for health or safety reasons.

Do not donate items that violate our Code of Conduct, are not owned by you, are illegal to own, or promote illegal or unreputable activity.

Goods or services of an explicit adult nature will not be accepted.

Making A Donation: You may fill out a form online in advance to pledge an item to the auction. Charity staff will accept items at the convention as well.

How It Works

IMPORTANT: Please note that we have adapted some of our practices for 2023:

Auction Process: The Charity Auction process will proceed as follows (subject to change):

Voice Auction

• Items will be presented at an in-person panel on Sunday afternoon for bidding. The items will be presented in an order to be decided by FE staff.
• Bids are placed by voice or by raised hand (the auctioneer must acknowledge the bid). Each bid must be higher than the previous bid.
• Once the auctioneer declares the item sold, the sale is final and binding upon the donor and the buyer (the last valid bid received).
• All items (from voice and silent auction) will be available for pickup and payment at the voice auction (all major credit cards are accepted; we are discouraging cash). Buyers who fail to pay will forfeit items purchased, and may be subject to other sanctions.

Policies

Our Staff: References to “Furnal Equinox” or “FE Staff” include anyone empowered to make decisions regarding the running of our charity auction, including:

• Charity department staff and the department head
• In case escalation is needed, the Director on Duty and Convention Chair.

General: Furnal Equinox encourages attendees and dealers to donate goods and services for sale in its Charity Auction. Items are held in trust by Furnal Equinox and sold by auction, with all proceeds from the sale (i.e. we take no commission) donated to the convention’s selected charity. For 2023, our charity is Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge.

Making A Donation: You may fill out a form online in advance to pledge an item to the auction. Charity staff will accept items at the convention as well.

If you’re donating a good / physical item, please note that the donation is only considered complete when we receive a physical item — a pledge form completed online does not commit the donor in itself.

If you’re donating a service of some kind (e.g. custom art, other commission or service), the donation is considered complete when we acknowledge receipt of the form. We recommend providing some form of evidence (e.g. printed gift certificate) confirming the service to be provided that we can display. We also recommend referring the buyer to any applicable terms of service you have.

Reserve Prices and Other Conditions: A donor can suggest a starting bid. If the starting bid is not met, then the donor can reclaim the item.

Auction Process: The Charity Auction process will proceed as follows (subject to change):

Voice Auction

• Items will be presented at an in-person panel on Sunday afternoon for bidding. The items will be presented in an order to be decided by FE staff.
• Bids are placed by voice or by raised hand (the auctioneer must acknowledge the bid). Each bid must be higher than the previous bid.
• Once the auctioneer declares the item sold, the sale is final and binding upon the donor and the buyer (the last valid bid received).
• All items (from voice and silent auction) will be available for pickup and payment at the voice auction (all major credit cards are accepted; we are discouraging cash). Buyers who fail to pay will forfeit items purchased, and may be subject to other sanctions.

Placement of items and combining items: FE staff have full discretion regarding the presentation of items, including the decision to combine individually donated items into a single ‘lot’ offered for sale. We also reserve the right to decide whether to place an item in the voice auction.

Withdrawing an item: FE reserves the right to withdraw an item from auction at any time at its discretion. A donor may also request an item be withdrawn and returned to them prior to final sale only, subject to approval by the Charity Lead.

If an item doesn’t sell: An item that receives no bids or is not paid for may be reclaimed by the original donors before the end of the convention.

After the convention: A successful bidder who does not claim the item at the convention must make arrangements for shipment at their expense. If we can’t contact you within 60 days, Anthropomorphic Events of Ontario may dispose of the item as it sees fit.

Staff Participation: The auctioneer and the Charity Lead may not bid in the charity auction under any circumstances. FE Charity staff may place bids on items, with the advance approval of the department head or a more senior staff member.

No Warranties / Provision of Services: To buyers, Furnal Equinox makes no warranties or guarantees regarding the condition or performance of items or services sold. All items are sold “as is”.
However, donors of services are expected to deliver the service that they have committed to in good faith. Failure to provide the promised service to the successful bidder may result in sanctions being imposed by the convention.

Disputes: Disputes re: the operation of the charity auction may be escalated to the Charity Lead and alternatively, to the Convention Chair or Director on Duty. Decisions made are final and not subject to appeal.

Any questions or concerns can be sent to

E-mail: charity@furnalequinox.com